PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Expecting major growth in Medicaid subscribers under health insurance reform, Independence Blue Cross has made a move to be a major player well beyond its traditional business boundaries.

What do you get when you mix two big Blues with a major provider of Medicaid care? Well, we’re going to find out, says Daniel Hilferty, President of Independence Blue Cross.

“Independence Blue Cross and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan will be partnering to expand services to Medicaid beneficiaries nationally through the AmeriHealth/Mercy family of companies,” he said the pair will create “a top-tier, best-in-class Medicaid managed-care organization headquartered in Philadelphia.”

Moreover, Independence Blue Cross, already a co-owner of AmeriHealth/Mercy, is buying the rest of it from Mercy Health System. Hilferty says it’s an unprecedented time of change in health care and this venture presents a way for the Blues, many of which have had low involvement with Medicaid, to get with the program.